Vacuum cleaners are generally supplied with a range of tools for dealing with different cleaning tasks. For example, such a tool may be a general purpose floor tool for on-the-floor cleaning of both hard and textile surface coverings. Typically, a floor tool comprises a main body which engages with a floor surface. The main body has a lower surface comprising a suction opening through which dirt and dust may be drawn into the floor tool due to a suction force generated by a vacuum cleaner to which the tool is attached. Although floor tools are adept at removing loose dirt and debris from a floor surface, they are less accomplished at removing other forms of dirt, for example stains, which may be left behind from liquid that is spilt on a hard floor covering. Of course, there are implements available for cleaning such stains. One example is shown in US2002/0184726, in which a long handled cleaning implement includes a cleaning head to which a cleaning sheet is removably attached. Such an implement can then be used by a user to scrub or mop a hard floor surface to remove stubborn stains.
It also is known to combine the functionality of a vacuum cleaner floor tool with a cleaning sheet in order to provide the floor tool with the facility to wipe dirt and stains from a floor surface in addition to the usual function of sucking up loose dirt and debris. By way of example, JP9028638 describes a device which combines a mop with a vacuum cleaner floor tool by arranging an elongate nozzle adjacent a mop holder to which a mop is attached. The floor tool therefore carries out floor wiping and vacuum cleaning functions. Also, EP1608253 discloses a floor tool for a vacuum cleaner in which a rectangular supporting element carries a disposable wipe and wherein elongate suction nozzles are positioned adjacent the fore and aft long edges of the support element.
Although such combined mop and suction floor tools have their advantages, the cleaning performance of such tools on hard floors tends to be compromised and their versatility is limited. It is with a view to addressing these drawbacks that the invention has been devised.